Broncos Take on Opening Day SplitThe Broncos are set for a pair of rematches tomorrow as they face San Diego and UC Riverside again in Riverside, Calif.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Boise State softball team started the 2010 season on the right foot with an 8-4 victory over UC Riverside on Saturday in San Diego. However, San Diego ruined the Broncos' (1-1) quest for a perfect day with a 6-5 win in Saturday's nightcap.

Game 1Kathy Cox (a preseason All-WAC selection) went deep in her first at-bat and Allie Crump earned the win in the circle for the Broncos (1-0).

The Highlanders (0-1) jumped out to a quick lead with a lone run in the first, but the Broncos immediately responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning. Cox hit a two-run homer to give the Broncos the 2-1 lead. Cox (2-for-4, 3 RBI) picked up her third RBI of the game with a single in the third inning that scored senior Laeha Hill from second. Jessi Hanna later scored on a wild pitch to give the Broncos a 4-1 lead after three frames.

Crump had cruised through the first three innings despite the blip in the first, but stumbled a bit in the fourth inning as the Highlanders knotted up the game at 4-4 with a trio of runs. However, Crump responded in the bottom half with a single that brought in the first of four runs in the inning. Tazz Weatherly, Hill and Hanna all collected RBIs in the inning to regain the lead for the Broncos and give them the final margin of 8-4.

Crump rebounded from her struggles in the fourth with a strong fifth inning to earn the victory. She pitched five inning and recorded seven strikeouts before freshman Lela Work made her Bronco debut in the sixth. Work allowed only one and struck out two in two innings of work to seal the win for the Broncos.

The Broncos will take the field again at 5 p.m. (MT) tonight against the host, San Diego, in the first of three meetings that will take place in the next two weeks. The Toreros and Broncos split a pair of games last year.

Game 2San Diego proved to be the comeback kids in the second game of the day as the Toreros (2-0) edged the Broncos (1-1) 6-5 in the nightcap. The Broncos left 11 runners on base compared to the Toreros' four in the narrow loss.

The Broncos took the lead three separate times in the first four innings, but could not find a run late in the game as the Toreros' tenacity got the best of the Broncos. The Broncos were the first to hang up a run as Christina Capobianco hit a solo homer to lead off the second inning. The Broncos threatened to put up more in the inning but left the bases loaded to end the inning. The Toreros responded with a run of their own in the bottom half to tie the game at 1-1.

The Broncos then regained the lead in the top of the third. Tazz Weatherly and Holly Bourke each drew bases loaded walks in the inning to give the Broncos the lead, but the bases were left loaded for the second straight inning. A pair of illegal pitches and an RBI single helped San Diego to tie the game back up at 3-3.

Capobianco came through again in the fourth inning with a two RBI-single to center to once again give the Broncos a two run lead. However, the Toreros mounted another comeback and this time overtook the Broncos. A pair of errors in the inning helped the Toreros score three runs in the inning to take their first lead of the night, 6-5. It proved to be just enough as neither team could scratch out a run in the later innings.

On the day, the Broncos scored 13 runs with all coming in the fourth inning or sooner. They also gave up 10 runs with all coming in the fourth inning or before as well.

The Broncos will look for revenge on San Diego tomorrow morning as the two team square off again at 10 a.m. (MT) in Riverside, Calif. The Broncos will also face UC Riverside at 12:30 p.m.